Josh's Story
by TimeTravellingCoyote
Summary: What if Charles and Erik found one more mutant to train?  Takes place during and after First Class.  Later chapters detail connection to the original trilogy.
1. Chapter 1

My first story, and I've pulled an Adam (watch Torchwood), which means I've introduced my own character into the story to interact with the other characters.

My name is Joshua Rainfield. I live on the Siletz Indian Reservation in Oregon. I'm a mutant and proud.

All I could see was bubbles. Surrounding me in sheets of crystal amidst an emerald background, they scurried upwards, hurrying towards their date with the sapphire sky. From twenty feet underwater I watched them float up and disappear. When all was still, I closed my eyes, let the water flood into my lungs, and just let my mind drift…

Back to when I was two, it was my first time ever in the water. My mother was carefully holding me around my pudgy little waist as I splashed in this strange new world. The feeling was so unlike that of air, but so similar too. If I just stayed still, it was as if nothing was different. This was my world…

Back to when I was seven, my first grade class was visiting an aquarium. I was fascinated by the touch tanks, and when the teacher said we had to leave I was distraught. Mrs. Morla dragged me by my tiny little hand, while my other reached out powerlessly toward the tanks. I wanted to stay; I wanted to see the fishies. So I reached one hand out, and I cried…

Back to when I was thirteen, I was at a pool party for my friend Matty's birthday. We were all splashing around, playing Marco Polo. At that age, I was already the fastest swimmer on the swim team, and nobody could catch me in the water. Also, I hate to sound arrogant, but I was the most physically fit teen there, not muscular, but well defined enough to get the attention of the adolescent girls. While rough housing in the deep end, wrestling in the water, holding each other under, that kind of stuff, one of my friends wanted to stage a breath holding contest. As the star swimmer, I was expected to win, but none of them thought I could hold my breath for over 6 minutes…

Back to when I was sixteen, and my girlfriend was breaking up with me. She said I was too spontaneous, too random and unpredictable for her, that she needed a guy who would always be there for her. She had decided to break up with me at the beach (my favorite place in the world, now cast into a sadder light), and I took everything she said in silence. Mary had been my first and I had been hers (and I'm not talking about kissing here folks), and I couldn't believe she was doing this to me. She had always said she loved who I was on the inside and that she didn't just want me for my toned swimmer's build (alright, I'm being a bit arrogant here). I was mostly sad, but when she got up and left, the emotion started to evolve into something new. It was a December twilight, and nobody else was on the beach. I lifted my head back, shaking my long black hair out of my face, and I roared up into the cloudy heavens. _She can't do this to me, that bitch, that bitch_, I thought to myself. My face still searching the heavens for any sign of justice, I let a tear fall from my face, until, about an inch later, it plopped into the equally salty sea. Looking down, I realized I was floating neck deep in the sea. Startled, wondering how I got there, I looked around. To my left, a large bush rose out of the water, to my right a square of metal, reading "NO DOGS ALL WED" hovered forlornly. Twisting around, I could see the flood wave as it continued to surge desperately inland, back to Mary…

And now, seventeen, I reminisced about the past in a myrtle world, breathing the salty water in and out, somehow not dying, trying to calm down. It was my dad this time, he had been drunk. When my little sister Sarah had gotten home late, he started calling her a common whore, grounding her for the summer, etcetera. We all knew he'd take it back in the morning (if he remembered), but Amanda had had enough; she started arguing with our father, calling him a drunk bastard (which technically he was). Dad gets particularly furious over the b-word, so he started really yelling, loud enough to wake up my older sister, Amy, who was trying to get a nap before she had to work. She's a waitress, but she's really smart. When mom died, she dropped out of college to help our family. Now she works two jobs. On top of our dad's contracting, it keeps our family covered, but not perfect. Then when Amy walked downstairs after her loud awakening she started getting angry at me for not being able to control dad (she thinks I can somehow manipulate him into being a good upstanding citizen), and I storm out the door. I stalk down the dark street. As I go by each house, the sprinklers turn on for a brief second, before sputtering out in confusion. I spent that night on the beach, the same one where I had been dumped a year before, staring up at the stars, making up constellations as I let myself drift to sleep.

When I woke up, I still didn't want to return home, not to my apologetic father or my hormonal sisters. So I paced in the sand, wishing I had brought my surfboard. Eventually, I knew I had to calm down, so I did something I do every time I get really emotional. I drown myself.

The teal sphere around me came back into focus. I realize I had fallen asleep in the verdant depths. The knowledge that I was special, that I water was my lapdog, and that I was the only one who knew made me grin a little bit as I surfaced. My head broke the surface, water streaming off my shoulder length hair, as I spit out the liquid in my lungs. The first few gasps of air stung just as much as the first gulps of water do, but my body acclimated. Blinking water out of my eyes, I did a few backstrokes toward shore, until an unexpected shadow fell over me. Flipping over onto my front, I gazed up at a startling sight. Two men were standing before me, their designer shoes barely resting on the water. As my wake caught up with me and lapped over their laces, one said,

"Really Eric, could you not lift us a little higher? These aren't inexpensive shoes." The taller, older one on the right grinned, and made a tiny gesture. As it rose up, I saw that both were standing on one of the metal park benches that littered the shore. "Now then," the first one continued in his funny accent, "Some introductions are in order. My name is Charles Xavier. This is Erik Lehnsherr. And we are special too."


	2. Chapter 2

"Alright, you're next, Chief," Angel quipped, fluttering down from the ceiling. "What can you do?" I smiled at her. Leaning back, I replied,

"Nothing much." I winked. She rolled her eyes. For the entire night, we had all been talking, getting to know one another. The British one, Charles, said his mission was to help us realize our full mutant potential. He was a bookish looking sort, quietly making dry comments whenever the conversation was heading somewhere awkward. His partner sat stiffly, stern and rarely smiling. It's not that I didn't like him, he seemed alright, but he was serious, always thinking thoughts deeper than our superficial conversation.

"C'mon mate, we've shown you ours, now it's your turn!" This came from the skinny Irishman perched on a stool. Sean was a funny guy; he barely stopped smiling the entire night.

"Hey, Alex hasn't done his stuff yet either," I replied, teasing them all with my reluctance.

"I'll do my thing on you if you don't hurry up," Alex replied good-naturedly, running a hand through his spiky hair. Alex had a history; you didn't have to be a mind reader to see that. Still, I could tell he respected me, and I returned the feeling. Next to Alex sat Hank uncomfortably. He was a quiet lab boy and I could tell he was aching to go back to his experiments.

"Alright, alright," I said, dragging myself off the floor, where I had been reclining cross-legged, over to the fish tank. I stuck my head in, faced them, and grinned.

"That's it!" exclaimed Sean. "Darwin just did that!" Darwin was a black dude with the ability to adapt to any circumstance. Prior to my exhibition, he had stuck his head in the same fish tank and grown gills. Pulling my sopping head out, I caught Charles' eye. I winked at his wry grin before stating,

"Well, that's not all I can do. There is one more thing." Snatching Erik's water, I placed it right before me, making a big show of intense concentration. Fluttering my eye lids, I raised an open palm toward the ceiling. As I did so, a tendril of water mirrored my actions. I focused legitimately now, shaping details onto the watery coil. Thickening the body, I added overlapping scales and a triangular head. With a hiss, my water moccasin snapped its mouth open, lunging toward Sean. He yelped, shattering the glass and breaking my focus. The viper dissolved into an inanimate puddle as everybody laughed, including the redhead. With a flick of my wrist, I caused the water to spray outward, hitting everyone but me. Angel shrieked girlishly, slapping my arm lightly. I smiled widely at her. The entire night I had been stealing glances at her surreptitiously. Angel was beautiful, from her chocolate skin so similar to mine, to her warm eyes, to her iridescent wings. She saw me staring at her; I smiled again and looked away. Sean wanted Alex to demonstrate his powers, and the two were bickering. We all knew that eventually Sean would win though and Alex would have to show us his.

X

"So do you have a family?" Raven murmured to me. It was pretty late at night, and only Raven, a pretty blonde shapeshifter, and Alex were still in the lounge with me. Everyone else had gone to bed, or in Hank's case gone to the lab to tinker with Cerebro.

"Yeah," I responded just as softly, "A dad. Three sisters. Mom died giving birth to the twins."

"Aw, I'm sorry Joshua." She looked at me sympathetically before going on. "I never knew my parents. I was raised in an orphanage until I was nine."

"What happened then?" inquired Alex.

"Someone caught me in my true form." She shifted blue for a second. Alex jumped a bit, startled. I myself couldn't help but lean back a bit. As she regained her cuter human form, she continued, "So the headmaster threw me out. They thought I was a demon. I lived on the streets for a bit, which, trust me, isn't so bad if you can change your appearance. I was searching for food one night and found this mansion, so I figured they wouldn't really mind if I took a bit of bread or stuff, and then I ran into Charles. He told me to live with him, and, well, his parents are kind of suckers to him."

We were silent for a bit, until I turned to Alex. "What about you?" I asked. "What's your mutant freak sob story?"

Alex narrowed his eyes a bit and sank deeper into his armchair. I guess he didn't appreciate the sarcasm, but after a minute of dark silence, he spoke up.

"I don't remember much before the plane crash. All I know is that I was the only survivor. I was in and out of foster homes until I turned sixteen, when I was forced to join the Junior Army ROTC. The judge thought that would keep me out of trouble, that bastard. The next 2 years were hell, until I destroyed enough property for me to be thrown into jail. How's that for a sob story?" He glared at me, daring me to say more.

"It's nothing more, nothing less than every mutant is going through," Charles spoke up from the door. He walked in, continuing, "Everyone has to face challenges in our life. The ones that we will overcome, however, are much greater than those of the average _Homo sapiens._"

"Great to know Prof," Alex sullenly muttered. "So my life is just gonna be one huge piece of shit."

"No need for language Alex. Either you can change the world, or you can change yourself. And one is a whole lot easier than the other."

"Charles is right," spoke Raven.

"Easy for you to say!" Alex suddenly burst. "You don't have to shoot blasts of energy every day! You don't feel like you might explode sometimes! Raven, you can become anything you want! Even Josh can do something with his life, become a lifeguard or some shit like that! What can I do? Kill people. That's it," he ended softly, standing up as he finished his tirade. "You're the lucky ones. I'm just a freak." He walks out of the dim room. I make a move to follow, but Charles freezes me with a look.

"He needs time alone, Joshua. He's a born introvert forced to work in a team. It can't be easy."

"It's my fault though. I brought up the whole family thing."

"Actually, I did," interrupted Raven.

"But I asked him for his story. I shoulda known he wouldn't want to talk about it."

"He'll be fine," Charles insisted. I'll talk to him in the morning. I'm sure by tomorrow he'll be as lively as the rest of you."

"Well, I'm exhausted, gonna go to bed. See y'all in the morning."

"Goodnight Joshua."

"Night Josh."

X

If my life were a movie, the following scene would begin with a close up on a clown fish. It's peacefully rippling in a slight current. Muffled screams make themselves known to the viewer's conciseness. The camera begins to zoom out from the fish, revealing a couple more, before finally zooming out far enough to show that all three fish are floating in an orb of water. The camera pans down to an empty fish tank, in front of which stands an Indian guy (from North America. Not India) on a couch, laughing as he seemingly causes this watery mass to hover in midair. A girl with butterfly wings smacks it, sending a silvery cascade of water onto the big-footed lab rat watching one guy beat another with a chair.

All of us laugh as Sean breaks a chair against Darwin's scaly chest for the third time.

"My turn!" chuckles Alex, "Now it's time for a real man to try!"

"Hey!"

"Face it ya little skinny Irish punk," Alex shouts jokingly, "Ya got nothing on… HAVOK!" As he screams this out, he smashes the chair against Darwin's chest, unsurprisingly blocking the mere human force.

"You don't stand a chance either blondie," mocks Angel, "Give Josh a try, he looks pretty strong."

Her unexpected compliment causes me to blush and lose a little control over the flying aquarium, dripping some water on a jubilant Raven.

"Eee! Thanks Josh!" she squeals, shaking her hair dry. "Look, why don't we give Hank a try? He's obviously stronger than anyone in this room." Her taunts spurn Alex into grabbing Hank and pulling him to the floor. While the two wrestle, Sean grabs another chair, persistent as always.

The party freezes when Charles and Erik appear in the shattered window. We all shut up and turn toward our older members. Raven's mouth opens in explanation before getting filled with a gallon of sea water.

"Oops," I said.


	3. Chapter 3

"Rejected again!" Alex laughed as Angel politely unwrapped Sean's arm from around her shoulder. Sean grinned toothily and scooted over, giving the girl a little more room on the couch. I laughed too, until Angel said,

"I don't think I could ever date any of you guys. You just seem like brothers to me. Except you, Darwin."

"You'd date me?" he stuttered.

"Of course not! I was teasing you. Besides, you're all a bit young-"

"I'm 20!" proclaimed Alex, subtly flexing his bicep at her.

"You're 18," Sean argued back.

"I'm older than the rest of you where it matters." Alex flickered his eyes downward, and then fixed them back toward Angel, who rolled her own eyes.

"When are guys going to realize it's not just about how big you are? I want a guy who's strong but reliable. Kinda like the big and gentle type. Like Josh…" Her chocolately eyes met mine. I blushed hard, breaking eye contact.

"Umm…" I stuttered.

"Jeez Josh, I'm still kidding!" she laughed, everyone joining in as my cheeks got even redder. "The day I date one of you is the day Erik makes a joke!" I join in the laughter at this remark, gladly breaking my own awkwardness.

"I wonder what he's doing now?" pondered Raven, staring out the window. "He said that he and Erik had 'business' to handle, whatever that means."

"Probably something boring, you know the two of them," said Darwin, still smiling. "When have they ever-"

He was interrupted by a quick scream from Raven. Everyone followed her shocked gaze out the window, squinting against the glare.

"What'd you see?" I asked.

"I-I-I have no idea!" she stammered. "Something just fell from the sky. Maybe a bird, or a-"

Something else thudded even closer. This time we could all make out what had fallen. It was a human. One of the guards it seemed had jumped off the roof.

"We need to get help!" Raven stood up from her chair and walked toward the door, before hearing another few yells from outside. Guards were flooding into the court yard, yelling orders at each other. The turmoil was only exasperated as they began firing at someone, or something. I couldn't clearly make out the person's face, he kept on disappearing in a puff of smoke, reappearing next to a guard, and slashing the humans with a long blade. We could only watch in shock as the special units were murdered cleanly and efficiently.

Darwin broke our silence. "We can help!" he shouted, racing out of the lounge. We ran as a group into the concrete halls, shouting to the guards to let us by. They held us back, until a monstrous explosion ripped through the building. Raven was the first to flee back to our common room, where we saw a hurricane force whirlwind sweep across Cerebro. Hank gave a little moan of defeat as his greatest invention was torn to pieces by the wind.

A body crashed through the glass.

"Not again," groaned Sean sarcastically, but I could tell he was just as scared as the rest of us. Instinctively, I grabbed Angel's hand in mine, she held on tight, her other hand clutched in Darwin's. Hank and Sean, both of whom were behind me, put a hand on each of my shoulders. We weren't going to let anyone hurt us.

"What the hell is going on?" moaned Alex, his voice shaking at the end, cracking his tough-guy exterior. We heard voices outside the door; the guards were begging someone not to kill them. They were screaming that they'd let the intruders kill us, just so long as they lived. The garbled screams made it obvious the deal hadn't been taken. I glanced to the right and stiffened as I noticed a man with long dark hair and an immaculate suit striding unafraid through the tornado. From the other side, a demon with red skin and a pointy tail stalked toward us, gripping a cruel blade in each claw.

The door slammed open and an older man stepped through. He was dressed nicely and walked with the confidence of someone who knows exactly what he's doing. The three men approached us silently, stopping when the older one took off an almost comical looking helmet.

"Good evening," he greeted us. "My name is Sebastian Shaw." We tensed as he began walking toward us. "I am not here to hurt you. My friends," he handed his mask to the Italian, "there is a revolution coming, when mankind discovers who we are, what we can do. Each of us will face a choice: be enslaved, or rise up to rule.

Sean's hand slid from my shoulder. I glanced back and saw his pale face looking downcast and scared. Raven too looked a bit nervous, but the rest of us, even Hank, kept on defiant, questioning faces.

"Choose freely," he continued, "but know that by definition, if you are not with us, you are against us." This guy was convincing. The way he talked, the way he moved, I knew he was serious. From how I had seen the guards react to us, I knew, we all knew, that human beings weren't going to like it when we, as Sean sarcastically put it, "came out of the genetic closet."

"You can stay, and fight for the people who hate and fear you, or you can join me, and live like kings!" he finished in a smooth whisper, locking eyes with me right when he said that.

"And queens." Angel's hand tightened around mine. She broke eye contact with Shaw, staring unseeingly out the shattered window.

Shaw strode away from us, his two henchmen following. Stepping outside, he turned back to ask us, "Who will join me?" At first, none of us could move. Then Angel broke the group paralysis. Gently, her hand slid out of mine, and she walked away.

"Angel!" I called to her. "You can't do this! Shaw is killer. I know you're better than that."

"Josh, you don't know what it's like. You can hide, nobody has to know about you! But if I ever want to live in a world where I can be considered-" she choked on the word, "normal, then I have to join Shaw. Besides, I've always chosen the winning side, and I'm not going to be stuck fighting a battle I can't win." Her eyes narrowed, but I glared stubbornly back at her. She broke, turning to Raven, who looked away almost at once. I felt Sean stir behind me, but I gripped his arm, shooting him a look that said "you aren't going anywhere." His eyes fell back to the floor, only looking up when he heard Darwin and Alex scuffle. Alex smacked Darwin in the chest, who backed away. Marching toward the angel and demon, he proclaimed that he too would want to join their army. I was stunned, he would never-

Raven realized it first, throwing herself into Sean, tackling him to the ground. I pulled Hank down beside them as Alex released an energy blast at the intruders. Darwin had used his spiny exoskeleton to protect him and Angel, and I expected the ring of red power to disembowel the smooth talking mutant. From my angle on the floor, I didn't see the pulse hit, but pushing myself up on my knees I saw it had no effect. Alex stood there, confused and panting. The others were still on the ground, terrified. Only Darwin still stood his ground, punching Shaw straight in the jaw. I cracked a smile until I saw that Shaw was just taking it, until he slammed a hand into the tall boy's neck. In his other palm, I could see a bright orb.

"Adapt to this," the old man snarled, forcing the ball into Darwin's throat. Seeing my friends like this, I couldn't take it; I had to fight back to. I leapt, roaring at Shaw, forgetting about my abilities in the process, just wanting to hurt the scum in front of me. Alex's arm barely slowed me down as I plowed straight toward Shaw, straight toward the red one who had just teleported in the way. He slashed his curved blade across my stomach. I fell to my knees, shocked. Falling onto my side, I remember feeling a cool wetness when my fingers probed the injury, remembered thinking that with that much blood, there was no way to survive. I remembered Angel's beautiful face, twisted into anguish at the aftermath of her impulsive decision, vaporize with a fiery twirl of smoke. I remembered seeing Darwin's skin turn shiny, then crack and disintegrate.

After a minute of stunned silence, Alex ran up, sliding to his knees beside me. He flipped me onto my back, tearing my shirt where I had been mutilated. After looking at my belly for a second, he sat back on his heels, confused. The others ran up. Raven too knelt down, running a finger across my stomach.

"Careful," I wanted to say, "I just got my guts ripped open," but I couldn't find the energy. As my head fell back against the soft spring grass, I noticed Raven's hand was completely bloodstain-free.

I sat up in shock. Feeling my abs, I searched for any sign I had been attacked. There wasn't a scratch. The only sign that I had faced down a demon was my torn muscle shirt.

X

"They need to be trained," said Magneto. We sat outside, the next morning had come, bringing with it the total realization of what we had lost. Two mutants gone, not to mention the destruction of a supposed safe haven.

"They're just kids, Erik," Charles replied, glancing back at us. Strewn across a stone park bench, we looked the worse for wear. Sean was hunched over, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses, but I could sense the moisture in his eyes. Alex accused the universe with an unwavering, penetrating stare, his tough-guy face back in place. Raven and Hank sat closer than the rest of us, both looking concerned over the events of last night. I was perched on the concrete planter behind the bench, my bare feet resting lightly on the rough seat.

"No. They were kids. Shaw has his army, we need ours," Erik shot back, giving Charles one of his trademark Looks.

Turning toward us, skepticism still traced on his face, Charles raised his voice. "We need to train."

"We can't stay here. And we've got nowhere else to go," moped Hank.

"Yes we do."

"Then let's do it," I said, standing up. "We can't let them do this again. We've got to fight back."

"I like this one," remarks Erik, but Alex spoke,

"They took us apart. Without even trying. Darwin's dead!" He had said this a lot for the past hour.

"Then we'll avenge him," said Erik.

"Set things right," said Raven.

"And become a big, happy family while we're at it." This was Sean, who had barely spoke for the last hour. Raising his head and shaking the hair out of his eyes, he gave his roguish grin.

"Let's do this," he said.


End file.
